B&E’s Savreen Gadhoke argues why manufacturing cars for the fairer sex does not make for a good business plan in India... [and the lady is serious!]
In
India, still, experts comment and research agencies like HighBeam
concur that at the lower level, women make up 10% of the total sales of
even top mass market brands. Though India comprises a 200 million strong
middle class, for whom a car is even now more of a luxury, which is
bought after great discussions and compromises and generally driven by
the man of the house, introducing a car exclusively for a woman
belonging to this segment of society is just not a viable proposition.
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Vivek Srivastava, Joint MD,
Innocean Worldwide states, “Specific models being offered to the female
buyers as a practice or an approach to market segmentation is not a
wide-spread practice.” However, by mapping the needs of the middle
class, manufacturers have launched 2-wheelers like Hero Honda Pleasure,
TVS Scooty Pep, Kinetic Flyte, et al, which have been received well by
females from this strata of the society and have performed well in
tier-2 & tier-3 cities, mainly because of poor conditions of the
public transport & low cost of ownership. Harshul Verma, Automobile
Analyst, Khandwala Securities asserts, “Females generally prefer compact
cars over bulky vehicles.” Would that make Tata’s Nano more a woman’s
car than the people’s car? Comparing with the western world, in USA
& UK, bulky vehicles like Volvo S40, Mazda 3 & Volkswagen Jetta
are the first preferences of female drivers.
Indian automobile manufacturers are just not ready to take the risk of launching cars targeted exclusively at women. The foremost reason for this is that they do not wish to restrict their target audience. And as the well publicised Experian August 2008 research shows, men are better and more regular ‘re-buyers’ and repeat customers than women. Well, though my lady-like composure permits not, I have to accept, women are worse when it comes to the market place!
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist). For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles. 2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012 Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs) Ranked 6th Overall Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012 Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society…. IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management IIPM makes business education truly global Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman IIPM B-School Facebook Page IIPM Global Exposure IIPM Best B School India IIPM B-School Detail IIPM Links IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face |
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Good business plan in India
